Namaste - The Yogic Greeting - Exotic India Art

In a well-known episode it
so transpired that the great lover god Krishna
made away with the clothes of unmarried maidens,
fourteen to seventeen years of age, bathing in
the river Yamuna. Their fervent entreaties to
him proved of no avail. It was only after they
performed before him the eternal gesture of namaste
was he satisfied, and agreed to hand back their
garments so that they could recover their modesty.

The gesture (or mudra) of namaste
is a simple act made by bringing together both
palms of the hands before the heart, and lightly
bowing the head. In the simplest of terms it is
accepted as a humble greeting straight from the
heart and reciprocated accordingly.

Namaste is a composite of the
two Sanskrit words, nama, and te.
Te means you, and nama has the following
connotations:

To bend

To bow

To sink

To incline

To stoop

All these suggestions point
to a sense of submitting oneself to another, with
complete humility. Significantly the word 'nama'
has parallels in other ancient languages also.
It is cognate with the Greek nemo, nemos and nosmos;
to the Latin nemus, the Old Saxon niman, and the
German neman and nehman. All these expressions
have the general sense of obeisance, homage and
veneration. Also important here is to note that
the root 'nama' is a neuter one, the significance
of which will be elaborated upon later.

The word nama is split into
two, na and ma. Na signifies negation and ma represents
mine. The meaning would then be 'not mine'. The
import being that the individual soul belongs
entirely to the Supreme soul, which is identified
as residing in the individual towards whom the
namaste is directed. Indeed there is nothing that
the soul can claim as its own. Namaste is thus
the necessary rejection of 'I' and the associated
phenomena of egotism. It is said that 'ma' in
nama means death (spiritual), and when this is
negated (na-ma), it signifies immortality.

The whole action of namaste
unfolds itself at three levels: mental, physical,
and verbal.

It starts with a mental submission.
This submission is in the spirit of total surrender
of the self. This is parallel to the devotion
one expresses before a chosen deity, also known
as bhakti. The devotee who thus venerates with
complete self-surrender is believed to partake
the merits or qualities of the person or deity
before whom he performs this submission. There
is a prescription in the ancient texts known as
Agamas that the worshipper of a deity must first
become divine himself, for otherwise worship as
a transaction would become invalid. A transaction
can only be between equals, between individuals
who share some details in common. Hence by performing
namaste before an individual we recognize the
divine spark in him. Further by facilitating our
partaking of these divine qualities, namaste makes
us aware of these very characteristics residing
within our own selves. Simply put, namaste intimates
the following:

'The God in me greets the
God in you
The Spirit in me meets the same Spirit in you'

In other words, it recognizes
the equality of all, and pays honor to the sacredness
of all.

Translated
into a bodily act, namaste is deeply rich in symbolism.
Firstly the proper performance of namaste requires
that we blend the five fingers of the left hand
exactly with the fingers of the right hand. The
significance behind this simple act in fact governs
the entire gamut of our active life. The five
fingers of the left hand represent the five senses
of karma, and those of the right hand the five
organs of knowledge. Hence it signifies that our
karma or action must be in harmony, and governed
by rightful knowledge, prompting us to think and
act correctly.

By combining the five fingers
of each hand, a total of ten is achieved. The
number ten is a symbol of perfection, and the
mystical number of completion and unity. It is
true for all ancient traditions. Ten is the number
of the Commandments revealed to Moses by God.
In the Pythagorean system, ten was a symbol of
the whole of creation. Ancient Chinese thought
too thought of ten as the perfectly balanced number.

Another significant identification
of namaste is with the institution of marriage,
which represents a new beginning, and the conjoining
of the male and female elements in nature. Marriage
is a semi-divine state of wholeness - a union
between the opposite principles of male and female
necessary to crate and protect new life. The idea
of human divine association was often expressed
in terms of marriage, as in the description of
nuns as "brides of Christ". Thus in the exhaustive
marriage rituals of India, after the elaborate
ceremonies have been completed, the new husband
and wife team perform namaste to each other. Wedding
customs, full of symbolic meanings, attempt to
ensure that marriages are binding, hence fruitful
and happy. Namaste is one such binding symbolic
ritual. The reconciliation, interaction and union
of opposites is amply reflected in this spiritual
gesture. It is hoped that the husband and wife
team too would remain united, as are the hands
joined in namaste. By physically bringing together
the two hands, namaste is metaphorically reconciling
the duality inherent in nature and of which the
marriage of two humans is an earthly manifestation,
a harmonious resolution of conflicting tensions.
Thus namaste, which symbolizes the secret of this
unity, holds the key to maintaining the equilibrium
of life and entering the area where health, harmony,
peace and happiness are available in plenty.

In
this context, namaste is equated with the image
of Ardhanarishvara, the hermaphrodite form symbolizing
the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, or the coming
together of the parents of the universe, for the
purpose of creation. In this form Shiva has his
beloved spouse engrafted in his body. It is conjectured
that by wresting from her husband one half of
his body as her own, and herself commingling in
his physical frame, Parvati has obtained an ideal,
archetypal union with her husband. Indeed which
couple could be more devoted than the one which
finds completion only by merging into each other?
By merging her creative aspect with him, Parvati
balances Shiva's destructive urge. Similarly when
Ardhanarishvara dances, the dance step is itself
believed to be a combination of two principal
and antagonistic styles of dance. 'Tandava', the
fierce, violent dance, fired by an explosive,
sweeping energy, is a delirious outburst, precipitating
havoc. On the other hand is 'lasya', the gentle,
lyrical dance, full of sweetness, and representing
the emotions of tenderness and love. It is in
the lasya of the goddess that death is annihilated
and turned into transformation and rejuvenation,
rebirth and creation. The image of Ardhanarishvara
is thus the perfect master of the two contrary
elements in the manifested universe. Such an ideal,
perfect marriage is the message of namaste. Thus
is 'nama', the root of namaste, of neuter gender,
as is Ardhanarishvara, the androgyne.

Namaste
recognizes the duality that has ever existed in
this world and suggests an effort on our part
to bring these two forces together, ultimately
leading to a higher unity and non-dual state of
Oneness. Some of these dual elements which the
gesture of namaste marries together and unifies
as one are:

This is the best description of the Namaste greeting I\'ve read. Thanks for the insight. I hope you don\'t mind, I\'ve linked to this article at the end of my e-book (a novel on the spiritual search of three women, to be released May 2011), as I ended the novel with this greeting and felt some readers may be interested in knowing the significance of the greeting.
Namaste!

I am half African descended and half Indian...brought up in both traditions but leaning heavily Indian because of the proximity of my Grandparents and my Father. Today I was told &quot;Namaste&quot; by a friend. I sought its meaning and found your article...very enlightening.

what id the Hindu word for &quot;may thee God in me greet the God in you

by Plez Lovelady, Jr. on 8th May 2009

Vanessa has hit the nail on the head. Her point is accurate to my perception of
history and the duality of Krishna as a God. A woman not suprised by the wisdom of purity and modesty -no -she sees but the good in actions -I know how difficult it must be to have to unravel how the threads have got so tangled. We now live in a world without respect for one's self in all our selves.
Thank you. Namaste

by paul on 2nd Apr 2009

its an amazing article.pity though hindu by religion,i so far didnt knew the meaning of gesture i do every day.u made my day by such a great article.

by siddharth saxena on 6th Feb 2009

Thank you very much for extensive and useful information.

by Uranaa on 17th Dec 2008

My 3yr old son watched a movie &quot;Snow Buddies&quot; and picked up this word namaste, and asked me what it meant, thank you for helping me explain it to him correctly. I then showed him how to put his hands together and bow when he says it. We now greet each other this way.
Thank you,
Namaste

My hats off to Nitin Kumar for sharing this inspiring article that opens up our hearts, minds, &amp; souls, and teaches us to honor others as well as the universe. Its about time to awaken our spirits and realize that we are all one. NAMASTE.

The reviewon Namaste is great. I am of Indian origin--African bornand did not know'Namaste' that well by meaning-- afriend in USAgave me the full meaningand I feel I know better now and am proud to be Indian-- Nmaste

by Inder Bajaj on 26th Mar 2007

It is very beautiful to see how an article such as this describing the word Namaste, the actions and its meaning has such apparent energy that it has provoked so many loving responses! Is that not proof of its work? I think that the story about Krishna is misunderstood in the responses I read. One must not see the actions of Krishna as actions of a 'regular' man (also, Krishna often pulled 'tricks' on people to highlight in them their own restraints keeping them from peace, light, love and truth). People say the story shows him 'leering' at naked teenagers makes him questionable as a God, but one must try to understand him as a God. To imply that this action is inherently sexual, doesn't allow for the understanding that he is a God after all-and nakedness does not have to be inherently sexual, it is society that makes this so if nakedness is understood this way. I also disagree that he is demanding honours from the women or that it is their clothing that gives them modesty, when in fact he asks them to honour themselves by recognizing their modesty while unclothed. Being naked is not indignant, it is a recognition of us as we are made by God, a reflection of God, a reflection of the beauty of God, it is the thoughts of man that make nakedness indignant, but it is not so inherently. Also Krishna was the great lover God, and people seem to think that this is somehow improper of a God to be the representation of lover, when I think it is in this union between two that duality is in fact made into oneness in the act of sex. This is a way that husband and wife become all elements of being together at once- hence Namaste as it relates to the institution of marriage, Namaste also relates to the act of sex being a fulfillment of the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical. To say Krishna is a lover God does not mean that he is a God of carnal pleasures, only the minds of people make that so if they wish, but that is not what sex has to mean, and personally I don't think it does. Also, we must not forget the context of time in which this story is told, I do not think the age of the girls has much to do with anything other than the social norm of what age girls, or women would marry in that era, which was very young. In society, unmarried also was significant in other ways than it is today- probably back then being unmarried in itself implied some kind of immodesty (as it still does in some ways today), and this symbolizes the beautiful fact that women are not modest because husbands or men or others make their form so, but because women too are all relatives to all others, and inherently are with dignity and modesty in form, in mind, and spirit, in the equal reflection of God as any other, be it male or married female. Nakedness itself is not immodest, or improper, it is the minds of people that make nakedness something improper if it is thought to be so. It is very interesting to read how people apply their perceptions to symbolisms, and thus are (in my view) restrained, and fail to see the essential meanings in the symbolism of this piece. This is infact a mirror, in which what we see in this piece is more of a reflection of ourselves, and not of the God figure or actions percieved. Which is what God is, isn't it? seeing the reflection of oneness in our way, and in us, our best selves? I do not think that finding God is seperate from finding our best selves.
Namaste

by Vanessa on 16th Mar 2007

Namaste!

by moira on 19th Feb 2007

Namaste,
I love the article. I read a book called &quot;Reverence&quot; which unfortunately uses other cultures as example when this article is exactly on point.

Respectully,

by Safiq on 12th Jan 2007

I felt at peace reading this. Namaste ! to the universe !

by Arashaad on 4th Jan 2007

I want to say thank you so much for this article... I think it's wonderful and inspiring... I have been translated it to Portuguese to send to my yoga's teacher and classmates!!! I'm sure everybody will enjoy it!!!
The world needs NAMASTE!!!

by Patricia (Brazil) on 11th May 2006

namaste is beautiful. I felt peace and contentment while reading this story and voicing the word namaste. Thank you for all the information. It really helped me to understand the true meaning of the gesture and the word
-Heather

'The God in me greets the God in you The Spirit in me meets the same Spirit in you' - I like definition very much, thank you. Today I felt inspired to use the word and thought to look it up in Google. I also enjoyed reading Andy's input, which is in the feedbacks, and I quote:&quot;I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place in you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.&quot; - Andy (awakening_of_life@yahoo.com) - Unquote.

Thanks for the thorough informative research of Namaste!
Namaste,
Pilar

by Pilar on 15th Apr 2006

&quot;I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place in you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.&quot; I love that, thanks!
Pilar

I went through this article and find it quite interesting. After reading the article I went through the comments of people and I realized that people have really enjoyed reading this article.

Initially when I started reading the article, I didn't feel very comfortable as Krishna is mentioned as lover god. Krishna exhibits many attributes and hence idea of branding him on the basis of 'lover' attribute is not totally fair. Secondly, it wasn't that Krishna was blackmailing the Gopis for returning the clothes. Few feedbacks for this article have tried to explain that fact. If someone is more interested, I am posting two links below, one is a brief explanaiton on this matter and other link is a english translation of religious scripture which explains the same thing with a proper reasoning.

http://www.santosha.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&amp;ID=30

http://www.vedabase.net/sb/10/22/en1

Namaste :)

by NS on 8th Apr 2006

Thank you for the wealth of knowlege.
I am getting namaste tattoed on the back of my neck today in the Hindu lettering

thankyou for teaching the world about,
NAMASTE ! I have NAMASTE tattoed
across my knuckles.Living in the USA,
this concept is unheard and needs more
education!

by paul (503) on 12th Feb 2006

The underground culture exists in America, the anarchist movement it is sometimes referred to. This is found in the cd book of an underground band called 'Zegota'. &quot;When we meet and part we often say &quot;namaste&quot;, which means I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place in you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.&quot;

I really did enjoy this article. In junior college my professor a, shauman used to use this term. At 18 I didn't care too much for spiritualism and I was blinded by the one way street religion I belonged to. I completely love this article. It does not denounced anyone's beliefs...nor say that one is right or wrong. This article is representative of how things, in my opinion &quot;should be&quot;. We should all great with Namaste, and end with Namaste...with respect that everyone has different beliefs and points of views. I do not believe that Satan is infusing me with lies because I choose to accept everyones point of view...in fact, according to Christianity, wouldn't Jesus accept everyone too? Love it! Thank you, I am happy to have stumbled on to it.
Namaste,

April

by April on 2nd Dec 2005

I would like to read this article.
Namaste.

by Mauro on 2nd Nov 2005

Thankyou Nitin Kumar - Editor. I found this information very easy to read and understand. Namaste. Star.

the article abt namaste is very enlightening. well researched...hands off!!!

it just seems stupid/crazy when it comes to the story abt krishna. you cannot demand such gesture with their clothes on your hand. ..very un godly if i may say so. it seems that krishna is levelled to that of a macho sexist egotripping male chauvinist pig that this normal society has...the story cld be wrong though..heheh

by kris on 29th May 2005

Really a fantastic article. A must to read by everyone. Thanks alot for bringing up this article. I just happend to get into this website from google. The artciles are very thoughtful, enlightening and knowledgable. I really appreciate the way the article has been taken through.

Hats Off !!

- Venu

by Venugopal on 15th May 2005

I do like this page and find it amazingly wonderful

by thienhuong163 on 20th Apr 2005

Perhaps the philosophical significance of the seeminly risque legend of Krishna ansd the bathing maidens is the lesson of honouring those who wrong you. The maidens had every right to be indignant but, remember, nothing is more selfless than the sincere love of one's enemy. Krishna playfully illustrates this.

Namaste,
Peter

by Peter on 8th Mar 2005

Hi,
I have doubts about the sincerity as well as the enlightenment of this greeting that Krishna (according to story) would &quot;demand&quot; of naked teens in order to give their clothing back.

It's one thing to give respect from a willing heart. It's another thing to demand respect of those you are leering at (no doubt with the best of motives) from a tree.

As a male, I can see no particularly high motives for stealing young women's garments or for wishing them to bow to me in an undressed state.

by Dave on 25th Feb 2005

I agree with your comment. Unfortunately, some obviously do not know what &quot;covet&quot; means. I do not see your response as coveting anyone's opinion or denying his/her right to it. But unless you judge the spirit by the Spirit and evaluate every doctrine by the Truth, it is easy to be swayed and accept every philosophy that sounds good.

by Good point on 6th Dec 2004

While reading an article today In it was mentioned Sanskrit Greeting. I learned about the Sanskirt by going into the internet. I found the article so interesting. I wish it were practiced in America. The greeting has such precious meaning. Hilda Miller

by Hilda Miller on 6th Dec 2004

yo
Teresa Williams-
Exodus 20:17
&quot;You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.&quot;

it's the last part that is releevent your neighbor also is entitled to a God View, and you sound a bit upset cause they do.
but it's all good. I see the spirit in you(Namaste)

by knowmad on 25th Nov 2004

My challenge, trying to find a healthful, centering place within after recent events (the American election on November 2, 2004) and the present war situations which cause so many of humankind to despise one another, was assisted greatly via this article.
It also helps me to understand the previously foreign concept of this greeting which I have heard and read so often but which I could not grasp.
Many thanks for such a clearly written and detailed article :-)

READ TIMOTHY 2:5 &amp; EXODUS 20:3...Then you will be able to handle the information that is written here regarding &quot;Namaste&quot; with clarity. Of course I say this to a true believer because without the power of the HOLY SPIRIT with in you'll NOT have the power to discern truth from a lie. Satan the destroyer of life and the life to come mixes just enough truth to get you to believe a lie. If you areNOT a believer in our LORD JESUS CHRIST please, read JOHN 3:16. RECEIVE THE POWER THAT IS NEEDED TO OVER COME ALL LIES.

Excellent article. This good for Real Bharat. All religions must be learn with Hinduism, because all REAL KNOWLEDGE is VEDIC-ARYAN-DRAVIDIC. The Sub-Continent of Bharat was a Boat that travel around all the Earth, and left in each land a lot of Knowledge. Today This SACRED LAND is a CONTINENT TEMPLE, WHERE ALL PEOPLE AND RELIGIONS HAVE THEIR PLACE. A child must respect FATHER-MOTHER=SHAKTI-SHIVA=DHARO-BHARAT. JAY JAY ATMA-OM.

by Octavio Po on 25th Sep 2004

Great article! I have added it to the section on Hinduism in the Web Directory at http://www.TheFourPrecepts.com

I'm interested to find out how the author found the Germanic language connection. Neman or nehman is not a german word. Nehmen however, is a word which means &quot;to take or accept.&quot; This is interesting because it suggests the opposite of the self abnegation of &quot;na ma.&quot; Just a thought

by Jon on 13th Jul 2004

I enjoyed your article very much. When ever I see the NAMASTE written it thrills me to my center - I don't understand why. Last fall when it was time to re-register my vehicle I decided to look into a specialty plate with NAMASTE - had to take a number (only 2 left) so chose my birthdate 5. A construction worker approached me today in a grocery store parking lot while transferring my groceries and asked what it meant. He had been trying to figure it out while I was buying my groceries and couldn't. I explain to people that it is a greeting from the oldest language Sankrit and translates something like &quot;The Divine in me recognizes and honors the Divine in you&quot; He thanked me for explaining that I had made his day. I, also, thanked him for asking and making my day. Namaste,

by Barbara Conn on 12th Jul 2004

Namaste!
Thank you very much for a well-written, thoughtful and entertaining article. I had brought up the possibility of including Namaste between my fiance and I in our upcoming wedding, and this article helped me very much in explaining to him the concept and the way in which it matches our inner feelings and center. Your work is much appreciated, thank you!

by Becca on 11th May 2004

Here is an article I read about "Namaste" which was presented as fact:

Albert Einstein was fasinated by Mohandas Gandhi. He watched newsreel after newsreel of Gandhi's doings in India. having seen Gandhi greet people in the street with his hands placed together, as if in prayer, and with a bow, he wondered what Gandhi was saying (newsreels had no sound in those days). Einstein wrote Gandhi and asked him what he was saying. The simple reply: "Namaste." Einstein then wrote again to ask the meaning of this hindu word, "Namaste", and the reply was: "I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the place in you of light, love, truth, peace and wisdom. I honor the place in you where, when you are in that place, and I am in that place, there is only one of us."

by Frank Rowlette on 5th May 2004

Thanks for wondeful article. All the articles in this website are full of knowledge and educational. I love your this website and recommend my friends this for their knowledge and papers.
Thanks for excellent work.
Wish you all the best...

by Dinesh Sharma on 21st Nov 2003

Thanks for the well researched article. It helped me a ton with a paper I'm writing for college. Peace out!

by Shane on 4th Nov 2003

It was great reading about the 'namaste'. I didn't know that such significance existed. Congratulations on your research and article. It was so full of info yet crisp and interesting. Keep up the good work.

by Rakhee on 30th Sep 2003

Oh! what a wonderful article. Challenge is, how to make aware Indians of their rich Indianess?

by Satish on 5th Sep 2003

Excellent article about the geeting of gods and humans, about modesty and respect we owe to each other.
Cristina Vintil&amp;#259;

by Cristina Vintilă on 10th Jun 2003

Namaste: A most excellent in
depth research article which
gives us more information about yoga and the sacred greeting. Sophia

by Sophia Mubarak on 25th Dec 2002

i would just like to say a BIG thank you for your articles. I look forward to them every month! They really are special and a blessing to recieve! thanks again for all the effort put into writing them.
Namaste

by Indigo Femina on 18th May 2002

Thank you so much... I am just beginning my journey in this forum and couldn't ask for a more informative site.

Namaste!

by Amy Beth on 16th May 2002

Really a well researched piece of article on a very simple but profound mudra. Thanks very much.

by Natarajan on 7th Apr 2002

I truly enjoy your informative e mail newsletters and beautiful illustrations. I learn much from your research efforts and am happy to have the chance to deepen my understanbding of Sanskrit, Hindu lore and yoga tradition. Please keep me on the mailing list. Thankyou

by Nancy Ivey on 26th Jan 2002

I received the "Namaste" article from someone who belongs to an Astrologers group to which I belong. We often share "neat" things with each other. I have been "saying/praying" the word/mudra "Namaste" for almost 20 years. Never have I know ALLLL the info that you gave in this article.

I just want to thank you for doing all the research and sharing it with those of us who are "semi-Indian".... VERY WELL DONE!!!!

Blessings,

by Alicat on 16th Nov 2001

Reading this really made my day!! Such a wonderful uplifting message during such trying times!!

NAMASTE!!!

by Jim P. on 16th Nov 2001

Once again another Top Class piece of work, please keep it up....
Namaste.

by Dr. Jan (Ireland) on 16th Nov 2001

Thank you so much for the article on Namaste. As a yoga teacher questions about the meaning of namaste come up often in my classes. What a wonderful resource this article is. And the art work is of course beautiful, as always. Thank you again.

Namaste,

by Anna on 16th Nov 2001

Thank you for your wonderful article - I have printed a copy to lend to my students as we always finish our classes with Namaste, and your article explains it so beautifully.

Namaste

by Carol on 16th Nov 2001

Namaste,

Thankyou very much on that article that you sent me... I think that you are doing a wonderful job god bless...

Namaste.

by Razia (South Africa) on 16th Nov 2001

Ho!Matakeeoyasin, the Ojibwe (Lakota American Indians language) word which means literally "all my relatives", and which I use at the end of my classes along with Shanti, Namas te, and Jai Baghwan, means, in my heart, "we are all related".

So the principal duality that see in Namas te, and all other such greetings, is that we are all individuals and we are all one.

in love,

by Martin Pincus on 16th Nov 2001

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